The Pirates and Pokemon of Kanto
by TheOriginalBoman
Summary: Set a generation before the events of pokemon red and blue, when piracy swarmed the kanto seas, a trainer who has just come of age goes forth on a dangerous adventure to find his father. Please review this story and give feedback so i can improve


**Prologue**

This tale does not start with an epic battle, a prophecy, or even with giant monsters.  
Instead, it starts with a woman standing on the shore of Cinnabar, as a crew of sailors ready their ship for a grand voyage. A man takes her hand, and reassures her that he will return with great riches and of even greater stories to tell. He kisses her, dropping something small into her hands.  
'For the baby,' he says.  
By the time the autumn wind filled the sails of his ship, the man was gone.

12 years have passed since the man left the pregnant woman upon those shores. He never returned to Cinnabar.  
Some say that he was killed in a storm not too far from Seafoam, others say he was kidnapped and sold into slavery by pirates. The cynics of the island, however, say he never planned on returning in the first place.  
His son believed none of this. He _knew_ his father's life was too strong to be taken from something so simple as a storm. He _knew_ his father wouldn't allow himself to be locked up and sold like common cattle. He also _knew_ that his father would not choose to stay away from him. He refused to believe such a thing.  
The son's name was Brian, and he loved his father, wanting to be a great adventurer like him. He didn't look much like him, though, as he inherited much of his looks from his mother, like her thin lips and her dirty-brown hair that seemed to have a life of its own. His mother would often say she could see his quite a bit of his father in his eyes, though.  
She told her son many tales of his father's past sailing the seas, and how he had won her heart many years ago. She even told him of the eventful day he left for the sea again, about how he hungered for the adventure that lay across the ocean waves, and of the small token he had left for Brian.  
It was a ball, designed with one half being red and the other side being white, and it fit quite snugly into the boy's hand.  
'Inside this ball,' she would tell him, 'is a creature from a far off land, captured by your father especially for you. Keep it safe, Brian, and I am sure it will do the same for you.'  
Brian had difficulty understanding how a creature that could fit into a tiny little ball could help him, but he always kept it safe. When his mother finally allowed him to release the creature from the ball on his twelfth birthday, it became his first and only friend. They would play for hours, building bonds with one another and strengthening each other's weaknesses.  
It was the fall when Brian had met the friend his father had left him all those years ago, and as spring descended onto the island, Brian pocketed the pokeball, picked up an old cutlass, and decided it was time to find his father.

Chapter 1: Our story begins...

The night air chilled Brian's body as he snuck his way to the shore. Cinnabar didn't have what you called a 'port'. Sailors would simply leave their ships by the beaches of the island as they took their leave. This meant that there was no one around to guard the ships, unless the sailors appointed someone to do so, of course. Brian hoped that they didn't.  
Not wanting to stay on the beach for long, Brian decided to jump into the first boat he saw.  
_This one will do_, he thinks._ It's probably capable of holding 200 people_, _with that many people on board they'd probably never notice someone like me skulking about.  
_Using the chain from the anchor as a rope, he climbs the side of the ship. It jingled and it jangled as he struggled to get to the top, with his sword bashing against the chain making other sounds that would draw attention to him if anyone else was near the ships tonight  
_Thank god no one is here,_ Brian hoped.  
He lifted his leg over the side and tumbles onto the deck. He looks to find a place to sleep, and for a place to hide, finally settling on the cargo hold. He opens up the wooden grate and falls through, landing softly onto the floor. It was dark down there, and smelt of rotten meat and alcohol. If you squinted your eyes you could just make out some barrels that were almost hiding in the corner.  
_They must be here to restock their ship, _Brian thinks, as he sits behind the barrels, trying to get comfortable and doing his best to not breathe in the smell of the hold.  
Eventually, Brian drifts off to sleep…

Brian is an only child. He had relatively no friends while growing up on the island, the other children thinking he was weird. Who can blame them, really? Brian wanted to be like his father, a man who these kids were taught was a wicked man who would choose to go sailing across the seas and ignore the lady he impregnated. Some of them were even taught that Brian's father was a pirate, a man who would rape and steal from any good person on the island. Others were told that was what he did to Brian's mother  
Because of this, Brian spent most of his time with his mother. Not that this was a bad thing, of course. His mother was very caring and loved him very dearly, but that didn't change the fact that he was lonely.  
When he was finally allowed his pokemon, Brian spent less time with his mother, and became more independent. He'd explore the island and talk about his problems to the little creature. Sometimes they'd even practise sword fighting with one another, not that either were very good of course. Brian became much happier when this pokemon came into his life. He also became much more confident, which is why he decided to find his father, and to prove that he, Brian, was not just a quiet little boy from some little island on the south of Kanto.  
All of these memories and thoughts went through Brian's mind as he slept in the stink of the ships hold while the ship began to set sail

Brian woke up with a start. His right side hurt a lot, like he had whacked with a log. He could hardly breathe, partly because of the pain, and partly because the smell of rotting meat was still there. Brian looked up to see a figure standing in front of him.  
It was a tall man, muscles coming out of every imaginable place. He wore only loose white trousers, which contrasted well with his dark black skin, with what seemed to be tribal tattoos going across his chest and face.  
"Who har hyou?" The man stated. Brian figured that this man must have kicked him.  
Brian tries to answer, but he just couldn't get any air. Instead he only gave a hacking cough.  
"Hyou har stowaway, hyes?" The man asked, starting to lean over Brian.  
Hack. Cough.  
"Come hwit' me." The man grabbed Brian by the neck and dragged him out of the smelly cargo hold.  
The light burned Brian's eyes as he was pulled to the top deck. He could see all these shadows around the edges of the ship. These people were staring at him, Brian knew it.  
It was at this point the tall man threw Brian to the floor. The whole ship erupted with laughter. If he wasn't so scared and trying so hard to breathe, he would definitely be feeling embarrassed right now.  
The laughter suddenly stopped.  
"Dee captain is coming." He heard the black man mutter above him.  
Brian was getting ever so more frightened. He was only 12, and he had no idea what was going on. All he knew was that he was way over his head, and pretty sure that these people aren't just tourists. These men were pirates.  
During the silence of the crew, Brian could hear big heavy footsteps and when they stopped, he could see a pair of big heavy boots in front of him. He noticed that there was something protruding from each boot. The left had some kind of vegetable coming out of the top. The right had a knife.  
"Get up." The gruff-voiced owner of the boots said.  
Brian planted his hands to the ground, and pushed with all his might, but he was still weak from not being able to catch his breath, so he collapsed to floor. The ship laughed at him once more.  
"Didn't you hear me boy?" The voice was almost a whisper. "I said: GET UP!"  
The left boot smacked Brian in the ribs with the power you'd think only a hitmonlee could kick at. The ships laughter got louder. Brian struggled to breathe.  
The laughter started to die. Brian felt all eyes on him again as he spluttered and gasped for air. He planted his hands on the floor once more, and pushed. This time he got to his feet. He was still struggling for breath, and the pain in his side made it even more difficult to stand. Brian's knees were shaking under his own weight, as he raises his head to get a look at the kicking fiend.  
The man definitely looked like a captain. He wore the signature red coat with the gold trim, the tri-cornered hat with a tattered brown feather poking through the top, and a sword. It was a long, heavy black blade that hung across his back. It was a surprise he could even carry the thing, it looked like he would need to use two hands to swing it. The captain was smirking at Brian, his hand gripping the handle of the big sword.  
"Well at least we know you're not too stupid to stand. It's too bad you were too stupid to understand it's not smart to sneak your way onto my ship. Maybe you don't value your life, is that it?" The captain spat. "What's your name, boy?"  
Brian wanted to answer the captain, but the combination of fear and the possibility of one of his ribs being broken from the earlier boot to the side made it difficult to keep standing, let alone answer the man with the huge sword.  
The captain tilted his head to one side, quickly lifted something from his boots, and pressed it swiftly against Brian's throat.  
"Persian gotcha tongue?" He growled through his teeth.  
Brian's throat was hurting, and he could feel blood starting to ooze from where the knife was pressing into his throat. He wanted to run away, but could only managing to cough violently while this madman slowly pushed the object slowly into him.  
"I'm sorry, I'm being rude, aren't I?" The captain chuckled, pulling the knife slowly away from Brian's throat, but still keeping it under his chin so he could stab if the lad made any sudden moves. " I am Captain Farfetch'd. Skilled swordsman, powerful pirate, and, even if I do say so myself, a fantastic pokemon trainer.  
"Now it's your turn to introduce yourself, boy"  
Farfetch'd pressed the knife against his throat again.  
"B-buh-buh-brur-ian" Brian managed to say, trying his best to hide how frightened he was. He wasn't doing very well.  
The captain sniffed, pulling the knife away. Brian sighed with relief, caressing his throat where Farfetch'd had been stabbing him.  
Something wasn't right.  
Brian brought both his hands up, and saw that there was no blood. He kept staring at his hands, then to the captain, finally on what was in the captain's left hand. It wasn't a knife.  
"A…a leek?"  
Farfetch'd smiled. "You sound surprised, boy. With a name like mine I would've thought you would've guessed I was going to threaten you with one of these." Farfetch'd brought the leek close to his face. "I am so skilled with a blade, I could kill you with a root vegetable"  
Out of nowhere, the words "I could take you on," escaped from Brian's mouth.  
The captain laughed. "You? Hehe, go on then! Draw your weapon, boy!"  
Brian didn't know what he was doing. He knew he couldn't beat this man; he was terrible with a sword. He didn't even want to try and fight, yet his arm was moving all by itself, slowly towards his sword. It gripped the handle, pulling it out from his belt. It was halfway drawn, when something small dropped out of his pocket and onto the deck.  
There was a flash of light.  
A cubone was standing by Brian's side. The captain took a step back, and another smile flashed across his face.  
"Well I certainly wasn't expecting that." He chuckled, turning towards the rest of the crew. "The boy wants a pokemon battle! Using a cubone, no less! Should I take on this lavender-boy?"  
The ship roared with cheers and laughter. The captain's grin got wider, and there was a shining in his eyes.  
_What have you got yourself into?_ Brian's thoughts asked him, as the captain threw his leek into the air.  
"Mort!" Brian yelled, suddenly finding breath from nowhere. The cubone looked at him. "Get ready."  
No soon as he said that, a blur came from the sky and almost hit Mort on the side of his skull. The blur turned round and landed upon the captain's shoulder.  
"You actually are a lavender-boy, aren't you?" He heard the captain say, with disgust in his voice. "Only lavender-boys would name their pokemon. I'll be glad to beat you in this battle."  
He then nudged the pokemon that landed on his shoulder to the floor. It was a brown bird-like creature, with webbed feet and with a single black eyebrow that went across its eyes. It was holding the leek the captain held against Brian's neck. It was holding it like a sword.  
"Farfetch'd, attack!"  
The pokemon raced toward Mort, leek raised over its head. Mort rolled to the side, dodging the farfetch'd's slash. The bird quickly recovered, and swung again. The leek crashed down on bone, and Mort used that bone like a lever to push the bird away. They were like two expert swordsmen; the farfetch'd with his leek and the cubone with the bone. They sliced and they parried and they jumped and they ducked. If you walked in on this battle you would have thought it was a piece of choreographed dinner theatre. This was not your traditional pokemon battle, and the captain knew this.  
"Farfetch'd!" He yelled. "This is a battle, not a ballroom! Now finish this!"  
The pokemon nodded, and became a blur once more as it sped into the air. Mort looked at Brian with mild confusion. This was his first pokemon battle, and he didn't fully understand what was going on.  
The ship became silent. Brian looked at the captain, and the captain sneered back. Brian could then hear a whistling sound above him. Mort looked up, and his eyes went wide, and squealed to Brian. Brian saw a brown blur rushing towards the deck.  
"Bonemerang!" Mort chucked his weapon.  
"Hehe, that won't work, lavender-boy."  
The bone dropped to the floor. The whistling was getting louder. A visible shadow was being cast over Mort. Mort opened his mouth as if to scream. Brian looked to the blur, thinking wildly of what to do. He took a deep breath-  
"FLAMETHROWER!" Brian yelled out at the top of his voice. Orange fire flew from Mort's open mouth. The blur that was heading toward him quickly changed direction, and the farfetch'd crashed onto the deck.  
The captain was shocked, and gave the most dirty look to Brian. Brian simply smiled  
"We trained on Cinnabar. You pick up a few things on an island populated with fire pokemon."  
"Hold your tongue, lavender-boy." The captain growled. "Farfetch'd! Attack to win!"  
The pokemon disappeared into the sky again. Brian looked at Mort. The cubone looked back. There was a certain focus in his eyes that Brian hadn't noticed before. It was like Mort had been waiting for an opportunity like this for a very long. Like Mort's sole purpose in life was to battle this battle.  
The whistling began. The pokemon's shadow fell on Mort. Mort opened his mouth for his attack. The farfetch'd came into view. The flames escaped Mort's mouth and-  
The farfetch'd changed targets. Instead of continuing its dive onto Mort, it became a flying tackle onto Brian, straight into his chest.  
The force of the attack lifted him off of the floor, carrying him through the air and over the side of the ship. His body crashed into the sea, bobbing under and over the waves, trying to keep afloat. He could just about make out a dark figure at the side of the ship, holding a small thrashing figure. Brian realised that that was Mort as soon as the dark figure threw him over the side.  
_To die with his trainer,_ the thoughts in Brian's head informed him.  
Fumbling in his pockets, Brian retrieved Mort's pokeball. He fired the red beam at Mort's weakened body, and returned the ball to his pocket.  
Brian smiled as his body sank into the Kanto Sea. He saw a school of horsea swim past his body, and a lonely magikarp observing him from afar. His head drooped. The last thing Brian saw was a red light gradually getting larger and closer to him.

The next chapter of this tale is named 'The Island The Dead Wash Upon'


End file.
